Tattoos
by AmazingWingedGirl
Summary: Just a little oneshot I wanted to write.  Sirius returns to his fiancé after twelve years in Azkaban.  SB/OC, brief romance-y stuff.  Read and review, it makes my Patronus stronger! :D


**My friend and I were talking about hot bassists in bands (cough cough Hot Chelle Rae) and how they have tattoos, and later she came to me with an idea for a oneshot about Sirius's return from Azkaban. You'll see how the tattoos fit in, I promise. **

**This is non-PoA compliant, non-OotP compliant, etc. It doesn't really fit in with the books at all. Like I said, it was an idea.**

**Read and Review!**

**Synopsis:**** Sirius Black has just returned home from Azkaban. Shortly before his arrest, he had proposed to his girlfriend of three years, Ella McCarthy, in the middle of a pristine park, the trees alight with faerie lights, just as he knew she'd always dreamed of. She accepted his proposal, and the couple scheduled the wedding for the summer of that year. The young couple (both were at the age of twenty at the time) lived happily together in a shared apartment, spending hours with each other and with their closest friends, the Potter family. However, the murders of Lily and James Potter and Sirius's being framed brought his and Ella's carefree lifestyle to an abrupt and tragic end. Though Sirius was torn away from her, Ella never lost hope. Now, years later, they have been reunited upon Sirius's release from Azkaban. Ella, devastated by Sirius's arrest and heart broken by his twelve-year absence, is overjoyed to have him next to her again after all this time. It has been two months since his return.**

"Hey," Ella whispered as she sat down on the couch next to her long-time fiancé. "What are you listening to?" Something that sounded like smooth jazz and baroque music came through the static of the tiny radio perched on a spindly table to the right of the couch. Sirius looked up, his shaggy hair falling in his eyes gracefully.

"Just a little music. It's relaxing," he commented. Ella laughed, a sound like the tinkling of a bell.

"You, using music to relax? I never thought I'd see the day." She snuggled up to him and he draped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to him. Ella felt him shrug next to her and her smile faltered. "Are you okay, Sirius?"

He paused for a moment, his gray eyes clouding and becoming distant. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." Ella snuggled deeper towards his, resting her head on his chest and swinging her legs across his lap. A smile flickered across his face as he put a hand on her thigh and rubbed her shoulder with his other arm. Suddenly, he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Ella asked, looking up at his confused expression.

Sirius touched the fabric of his fiancé's clothing. "Is this one of my sweatshirts?" Ella blinked as salty tears began to sting her eyes.

"Yes," she whispered.

Sirius laughed, barklike. "Any particular reason why you're wearing it?" he asked, amused. Ella took a shuddery breath.

"When you were gone, it—I needed it. I needed you. And you weren't there, so…." she trailed off in what could barely qualify as a whisper, trying to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said in a low voice, meeting Ella's deep blue eyes with his own smoldering gray ones. "I'm sorry." Ella shook her head.

"Don't you say that. It wasn't your fault," she said, letting her head drop on his chest once more. His shirt, partially unbuttoned, left the top half of his chest exposed. Ella could see the angry blue lines of ink that criss-crossed Sirius's skin and tentatively reached up to touch one of the tattoos.

"Scars," he said bitterly, noticing Ella's expression. Ella ran her thumb across a pair of intertwining knives above Sirius's breastbone, feeling the puckered ridges the inking had left. Slowly she moved the fabric of his shirt to reveal a line of spiky numbers that ran in a line a couple inches above his left nipple and felt anger boil within her; it was his identification number, his only name and his only importance within the walls of Azkaban. _38254-2. _She traced each number with her index finger and felt Sirius shiver under her touch.

"I missed you so much, Sirius," Ella whispered, tears beginning to roll down her face. Sirius lifted his free hand to wipe away the tears with a hand so gentle you would never guess it belonged to someone imprisoned in Azkaban for more than a decade. As he did so, Ella noticed yet another tattoo, an Egyptian _ankh_, on the inside of his wrist. _Eternal life, _she thought. She looked briefly into Sirius's eyes before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth, his lips warm and comforting, his arms firm and strong and never daring to let her fall. He snaked an arm around her and pulled her as close as possible as they kissed, a thousand unspoken words passing between them. When they broke apart minutes, hours, or maybe even days later, Ella said, "I can't imagine what it was like in—in Azkaban."

Sirius lightly kissed Ella's remaining tears away before speaking. "Please, El, don't try." His voice was pained, desperate. He took her hand, holding it his own tenderly, as if it might break. He was so different now than how Ella had remembered him. His constant need for adventure had died with James Potter, and the twelve years he had spent in prison had torn almost all willpower from him. Slowly, he was recovering, but Ella knew that they had a long road ahead of them until Sirius was back to remotely normal. It broke Ella's heart to see this once-happy man so…beaten. She knew deep down that, no matter what she did, or what he did, or what they did, there would always be a void in her husband-to-be's heart where part of it had been simply ripped out.

Ella felt Sirius begin to fiddle with the engagement ring on her hand. "What are you doing?" She asked, curious.

"I can't believe you're still wearing this. I was gone for _twelve years._"

"Sirius, I never took it off." For the first time all night, Sirius's solemn face broke into a genuine smile.

"So, if I asked you to marry me again…?"

"Of course I would," Ella said, smiling wide. "I love you, Sirius Black. Nothing could ever change that."

"I love you too, El," Sirius said, smiling warmly. And as Ella looked into his fathomless gray eyes, the gleam of emptiness had already begun to fade.

**So there you have it! Like I said, it was just a little idea that I had to get out on paper! Please review, tell me what you thought!**


End file.
